Healthier Southern Options at Jacoma’s Bistro and Lounge

Jacoma’s Bistro and Lounge is a new restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner inside of the Ramada Shreveport Airport (formerly the Holiday Inn Financial Plaza) at 5555 Financial Plaza. Since opening in December 2016, Jacoma’s owner Shamus Germany has gradually introduced a menu that attempts to split the difference between traditionally decadent Southern food and a health-conscious approach.

Shamus Germany is Owner and Chef at Jacoma’s Bistro and Lounge in Shreveport.

Germany’s personal journey has shaped the menu at Jacoma’s Bistro. When her husband was diagnosed with diabetes, she says, “the way that I was cooking just had to change.” While helping her husband and children eat healthier, she has also undergone a personal transformation – Germany has lost more than 70 pounds since January 2016. She jokes that the menu that she and her team are currently creating is a “melting pot” that offers everything from Parmesan-crusted salmon and smothered turkey cutlets to sushi. The full menu will be introduced on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017.

“My chef is a bomb sushi roller,” Germany says. “I don’t want to be limited to only cooking soul food or only cooking Southern food, though we can cook those kinds of dishes very well. My job is to satisfy every palate.”

Germany is a lifelong cook with a background in event catering. One of her signature dishes, seafood fritters, were a hit at the annual TASTE fundraiser benefiting Holy Angels in 2016. They are delicious, hush puppy-sized balls of Creole crabmeat dressing – the kind that you’d find inside of a stuffed shrimp – that are served with a Creole aoili dipping sauce. I dunno if these little things are healthy, but they’re addictive. For dessert, Germany says she’s got a fantastic sugar-free peach cobbler.

When most of us head to lunch or dinner with a taste for something smothered or fried, we may not have healthy options in mind. What’s fascinating about Jacoma’s Bistro is that it opens up the possibility of a place that can do both. Want catfish? Try it the healthy way. Want stuffed shrimp? Try them as a smaller, lighter fritter. The challenge may lie in getting folks to try lighter Southern fare.

“I love challenges,” Germany says. “Challenges have made me who I am today.”